Reinstatement to F-1 Status
Eligibility
Checklist of Required Documents
Students who have not maintained their F-1 status may apply for reinstatement to ask that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) put you back in legal status. Students are strongly encouraged to speak with the ISA advisor to get detailed advising on the options available to students who are out of status and to learn more about how to prepare a successful reinstatement applications.
Eligibility
- The circumstances through which the status violation occured must be exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the student;
- The violation must have occured within 5 months of when the application is filed with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.
- The student must not have engaged in any unauthorized employment, on-campus or off-campus, after the violation. Please note that employment pursuant to the terms of an assistantship or fellowship is considered to be part of the academic program of an otherwise full-time student.
Checklist of Required Documents
Once you have gathered together all of the documents listed below, please schedule an appointment with the ISA advisor for review.
- Form I-539, completed by you. It is important to be truthful. Providing false information of a material fact can have severe penalties. When filling out the form, these pointers may be helpful:
- Part 2, number 1: Check box c
- Part 3, question 1: Write F-1 D/S
- Part 4, question 3, item e: Write "Please see letter of explanation"
- $380 filing fee – check or money order payable to Department of Homeland Security, USCIS
- Original documentation of funding. All letters must be original documents (not copies) with original signatures.
- Must show sufficient funds for your program. See here for detailed cost of attendance figures.
- Dependent expenses are $5000 per dependent per year.
- If funded by the university, then a letter from your department, on university letterhead, detailing the exact amount of your funding (tuition, stipend, health insurance) and whether this is pursuant to an assistantship or fellowship is required.
- If funded by personal or family funds, then a letter from the bank, on bank letterhead, no more than six months old, in English, referring to U.S. dollars, detailing the account holder’s name, account number(s) and current balance(s) is required.
- If your financial sponsor is in the U.S., then a completed Form I-134, signed and notarized, is also required.
- Enrollment letter for the current semester (Registrar’s Office)
- Official transcripts from Peabody and any previously attended U.S. institutions (Registrar’s Office)
- 3 photocopies of all previously issued I-20s, from Peabody and all previously attended U.S. institutions
- Original I-94 card
- 3 photocopies of your passport identification, expiration and U.S. visa
- Letter from your academic advisor indicating your estimated completion date.
- A letter from you to USCIS requesting that they reinstate you to valid F-1 status. The following points should be addressed in your letter:
- Establish that the violation of status was due to circumstances beyond your control and that failure to reinstate you would result in extreme hardship. Please indicate the date that the violation occured;
- Indication that you did not work without authorization since your last entry to the U.S. Please note that on-campus employment pursuant to the terms of an assistantship, fellowship or scholarship is deemed to be part of the academic program of an otherwise full-time student [8 CFR 214.2 (f)(6)(i)(H)];
- Indication that you are enrolled full-time.
Once these documents have been reviewed by the ISA advisor, they will issue you a new I-20 for purposes of applying for reinstatement. It is your responsibility to mail the complete request to USCIS. The mailing address is below. Reinstatement requests can take anywhere from eight weeks to up to 9 months. Please provide the ISA advisor copies of all USCIS correspondence that you receive during the pendency of the application.
Mail your reinstatement application to:
USCIS
Attn: I-539
2401 S. State Highway 121 Business
Suite 400
Lewisville, TX 75067
